F. J. (Fred) Manzella, regarded by many...

F. J. (Fred) Manzella, regarded by many as the second in command at Northrop Corp., will retire as executive vice president of operations at year-end, the company announced.

Manzella, 62, who joined Northrop in 1968, has been responsible for a wide variety of departments, including public affairs, human resources and the aerospace company’s Ethics and Business Conduct office.

Manzella’s responsibilities will be divvied up between Northrop Chairman Kent Kresa and Marvin Elkin, who will fill the newly created position of corporate vice president of administration and services.

In other personnel moves, Northrop appointed Charles L. (Chuck) Jones Jr. corporate vice president of its newly created quality operations office; James G. Roche has been named corporate vice president of advanced development and planning; Wallace C. Solberg has been elected corporate vice president and general manager of Northrop’s Aircraft division; and Max T. Weiss will succeed Solberg as corporate vice president and general manager of the Electronics Systems division.